The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of blanket flower, an herbaceous perennial that is grown for use as an ornamental landscape and container plant. The new invention is known botanically as Gaillardia×grandiflora and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘FANFARE BLAZE’. Gaillardia is in the family Compositae, under which the commonly referred to “flower” is actually the inflorescence, and made up of smaller ray flowers and disc florets. The ray flowers themselves have the appearance of “petals”.
‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is product of a Gaillardia breeding program started by the inventors in 2006. The breeding program is conducted in a greenhouse in a nursery environment in West Sussex, United Kingdom. The aims of the breeding program are to produce novel combinations of flower colors and flower forms which are borne on well-branched plants with sturdy growth habits. The inventors selected ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ in 2007 for its bright orange-red flowers which are produced continually from spring until fall and which do not fade with age. The inventors also selected for its compact and naturally branching habit.
‘FANFARE BLAZE’ resulted from the controlled cross pollination as follows: The female parent of ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is Gaillardia ‘Fanfare’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,892) which was discovered as a chance seedling by one of the inventors in 1997. The male parent of ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is an unreleased and unpatented seedling of the inventors' origin, code number G5.
‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is distinguishable from the female parent as follows: Whereas the female parent exhibits yellow and red tubular bi-colored flowers, the flowers of ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ are also tubular but orange-red in color and less notably bi-colored. ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ also grows with a more compact and freely-branching habit than the female parent. Finally, ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ remains in flower longer, until late fall.
‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is distinguishable from the male parent as follows: Whereas the male parent exhibits flat petals, the petals of ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ are tubular.
The variety of Gaillardia which is considered by the inventors to most closely resemble ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is the female parent variety, ‘Fanfare’. The two varieties are compared above. The inventors consider that the variety of Gaillardia plant known as ‘Tizzy’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,944) is similar to ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ in respect of its tubular ray flowers. However, the tubular ray flowers of ‘Tizzy’ are red in color whereas the tubular ray flowers of ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ are orange-red in color and exhibit a prominent bright petal apex when the inflorescence is fully expanded.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ was first accomplished by the inventors in 2007. The method of asexual propagation used was vegetative cuttings taken from the original selection which was growing in an unheated greenhouse in West Sussex, United Kingdom. Subsequent asexual propagations have been carried out by the inventors in the same greenhouse using both vegetative cuttings and root cuttings. The inventors have determined that ‘FANFARE BLAZE’ is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction by either method.